Swaledale Festival

The award-winning Swaledale Festival is an annual celebration of music and arts in the beautiful landscape of the three northernmost Yorkshire Dales – Swaledale, Wensleydale and Arkengarthdale.

The two-week Festival, which started in 1972 and is a registered charity, begins on the Saturday of the late May Spring Bank Holiday each year. Venues are mostly charming churches, chapels, village halls, and heritage sites such as Richmond’s Georgian Theatre Royal, and Gayle Mill near Hawes.

The Swaledale Festival attracts the finest artists from all over the world, and regularly commissions new work. There is a strong Young Artists Platform at the Festival, and there is an extensive programme of education and community activities which has resulted in several awards, including the Prime Minister’s Big Society Award in 2014.

There is a great line-up planned. Highlights include: John Williams, John Etheridge & Gary Ryan, Stephen Hough, Red Priest, London Mozart Players, VOCES8, Fidelio Trio, Albion String Quartet, Sheku Kanneh-Mason (the reigning BBC Young Musician of the Year), Jess Gillam & Anthony Hewitt, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, The Unthanks, Urban Folk Quartet and Northern Monkey Brass Band. The full list will be on the Swaledale Festival website by the end of January 2017.